Old House c. late 1920s - 1930s

Daniel Garber made this drawing called Old House with graphite on paper. Look at the surface, it's alive with tiny marks, a real density of graphite that gives you the feeling that Garber was really present in this space. His mark-making is so responsive, like he's breathing life into every leaf and shingle. I love how the house emerges from this web of marks. The soft, smudgy graphite almost dissolves the building back into its surroundings. It's like memory, where the sharpness of detail fades, but the feeling of the place remains. Notice how the trees almost blend into the building, the darks and lights echoing each other? It reminds me a little bit of some of the drawings of Fairfield Porter - there's a similar interest in the way light transforms the ordinary into something kind of magical. And like Porter, Garber isn't afraid to let the drawing be a little unresolved, a little open-ended. It's not about capturing a perfect likeness, it's about capturing a feeling.